Rai's Past
by Griffin kid
Summary: Is Raimundo really up for rejoining the Xiaolin Temple?
1. Default Chapter

I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or the book this story is based on, but I do own some of the characters. This is my first fanfiction. Please tell me what you think. This starts from Kimiko's view.

"Don't lose it Dojo!"

It was the day after Wuya had been restored to her flesh form. After she said "In the flesh," she snatched up the shen-gong-wu, made a portal with the tiger claws, and jumped in dragging Raimundo with her. Dojo sensed another shen-gong-wu. The thought keeper (best name I could come up with) could hold troubling thoughts or memories for awhile before they found their way back into your head. Omi had caught sight of it from Dojo's back, then Raimundo grabbed it, and left using the golden tiger claws. But on our way back to the temple, Dojo sensed it again (it happened with the serpent's tail, right?). So now we were trying to find it in order to get back some of our shen-gong-wu, get revenge on Raimundo, and maybe have a talk with Raimundo on why he left. I didn't really believe that he would go bad just because he didn't become a Xiaolin apprentice.

Right now Dojo claims the thought keeper is close. We're in a canyon.

"Look there!" Omi shouts, pointing to a small crevice in a wall, where a silver glow is just visible inside.

Dojo landed on the ground and shrank back to normal size. The crevice was high above us. "You're going to have to climb," Dojo explained. "If they are in there, they'll notice us for sure and use the tiger claws to get away. We'll have to use a sneak attack."

It turned out Clay and Omi were slow climbers. It probably would have been smart to wait for them, but I wanted answers. I climbed on way ahead of them, even though they called to wait up. "Are girls part monkey?" I heard Omi ask Clay.

The crevice was very narrow, I don't think Clay would be able to fit. I quietly went in, hoping Wuya wasn't around. As I peeked around a corner where the silver glow was coming from, I saw Raimundo sitting on the floor of the cavern with a wooden basin filled with what looked like molten silver in front of him. It had to be the thought keeper. I threw on the shroud of shadows so I could go get a better look. One end of a cord was attached to one side and the other was connected to a stick. Raimundo was pressing the tip of the stick against his forehead and when he took it away, some silver stuff was connecting it to his forehead. When he brought the stick down to the basin, the stuff came off his forehead, and dropped into the basin. The silver must have been his thoughts. He continued this movement for what felt likes hours. I was so busy wondering what thoughts he was putting in and why so many, that I didn't notice Omi and Clay were taking way too long to get here. I nearly wet my skirt when I heard Wuya call for Raimundo just outside the cavern. "Great timing," he muttered as he put down the stick. He didn't sound sarcastic, so I guess he was done. I held my breath as he ran past me. When I was sure they were gone, I pulled off the shroud of shadows. I walked over to the thought keeper and peered inside. Maybe somewhere in here was the reason he left. But how could you tell the thoughts were? Forgetting about the stick, I stuck my finger in to see if the thoughts at the bottom looked any different. I found out right away this was a mistake. The cavern gave a huge lurch. I fell into the basin, but instead of hitting the bottom, I kept going. The basin seemed to swallow me up in to a world of silver. After a couple minutes of falling, flailing, and trying to scream, I finally hit the bottom. Then I blacked out.

So what do you think? I've got the next chapter all planned out, but I want you to tell me what you think first. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi. I decided I couldn't wait for reviews so here's the next chapter.

I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes right away. I was still trying to take everything that happened in, so I didn't notice the voices at first. I felt sore after my fall, but I didn't feel like I broke anything. The grass must have cushioned my. 'Grass?'

I opened my eyes. I was lying in the middle of a field where kids were playing soccer. The field was next to a school and a lot. Then a kid kicked the ball right at my head. I covered my head to shield the blow, but the ball just went right through me. Then the kid ran through me. I blinked. I didn't feel a thing! Then I noticed none of the kids even knew I was there. I got freaked out that maybe I died in the fall and became a ghost or something. Then the kid that ran through me scored a goal and I got a better look at him. He looked familiar. I gasped. It was Raimundo. Only he was 9 years old. I realized I must be in one of Raimundo's memories. I looked up. There didn't seem to be any way out. I guess I had to go through the memory before I got out. A whistle sounded. The coach was calling Raimundo over. As Raimundo ran to the coach, I felt a big jerk around my waist, and felt myself being pulled toward him. I guess since this is his memory I had to go everywhere with him. "What's the problem?" Raimundo asked the coach.

There was a dark haired lady in a red dress by the coach. They both looked worried. "Please come with me Raimundo," the lady said.

Raimundo groaned. 'What did I do now?'

The voice was his, but his mouth didn't move. I guess that was what he was thinking right now. He followed the lady into the school. I walked with him to avoid being pulled along. We arrived at the principal's office. I guess Raimundo has been here many times before because he went straight to the chair in front of the principal's desk, leaned back, crossed his legs, and folded his arms across his chest like he came here every day. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. The principal's had the same expression as the lady and the coach. "There isn't really gentle way to say this Raimundo. You mom went out this morning-"

"To 'Jays' to pick up the 'Rio de Janerio Times' and have coffee." Raimundo interrupts. "She does that every morning. So what?"

The principal sighed. "Eric killed Rachel this morning. I'm sorry Raimundo,"

I wish I knew what was going on. Raimundo looked freaked out. 'This is just a sick joke.'

"That's not funny." he said getting up.

"This isn't a joke Raimundo. We called a friend of your mom's and she's coming to pick you up."

Raimundo is white as chalk now. "Look, I just remembered, I left my drawing in art class, and I really want to show it to my mom when I get home-"

"Raimundo, don't you understand?" asked the lady. "Your mother is dead. Your father shot her,"

"I have to show her my drawing," Raimundo said firmly, and raced out of the room.

I was so shocked about what the lady said, I forgot I had to go with him, and paid for it by being dragged behind him. Raimundo's dad killed his mom? That was to hard to believe. Suddenly, the hallway dissolved into silver and I started falling again. This time I didn't fall far, and landed on a bed. I was in what looked like a guest bedroom. The clock said 5:35. Raimundo was lying in the bed awake, staring at the ceiling. I guess he was at his mom's friend's house. Then Raimundo got out of bed, got dressed (I closed my eyes as he did this), grabbed his travel bag, and went out the door. I ran out with him, not wanting to be dragged again. He went into the kitchen. I thought he was going to make breakfast, but instead he got out a pen and paper and wrote: I'm going home Miranda. Raimundo. Then just like that, he went out the door and to the bus stop. I thought he must be crazy to go to his house by himself. Then I remembered that he was a traumatized nine-year old. It was weird that he didn't cry at all. Either I missed it, he was still in shock, or he was the most insensitive person I've ever met. When the bus came, he went to the very back and sat thinking ' When I get home, mom will be in her studio, drawing and drinking tea like she always is in the morning. We'll talk about how stupid this prank is and I can show her my drawing that I finally got right. Dad cares too much about reputaion and his job as a psychiatrist to kill someone.'

I guess Raimundo is in denial. We get off in front of his school. Then he goes one block down, goes through a cemetery, climbs a fence, and we're in his back yard. In it is a barn, a tire swing, and a soccer ball. I follow Raimundo into the barn. The inside looks like an art museum. There are paintings and drawings everywhere, expect for the kitchen in the corner and the couch in the center. Raimundo looked around, probably for his mom. Then he digs into his travel bag and pulls out a drawing. It's of a lady, who I guess is his mom, pushing Raimundo in the tire swing. It was a terrific drawing, but Raimundo didn't strike me as an artist. I guess Raimundo thought so to because I would later find out that he never drew again. Or maybe it reminded him too much of his mom. In the drawing, she was tall, had tan skin, long dark hair, and green eyes. Raimundo took the drawing over to a wall where some of his other drawings were. I could see why he was so excited about showing her the drawing and why it was so good. The other drawings were of the same thing, but they didn't look as real. They were formed in the shape of a square, but the center was empty.

'I always wanted to throw these away and start over. But you said we should keep them so when I did start over we could really see the progress in the new one and really appreciate what it has become. You always said we shouldn't be afraid to start over Mom.

Then he taped it up in the center of the square and stepped back to admire the progress he made. "There you go Mom," he said aloud. "It's finally finished,"

I heard him think he could hear his mom telling him what a great job he did. But of coarse, when he looked behind him, no one was there.

"Mom?" he calls out hesitantly.

And then it finally hits him like a fist. She's really gone. Then the tears come. He throws himself onto the couch faced down, hugs a pillow to his face, and sobs into it. I wished I could say or do something to make him stop, but of coarse he couldn't see, hear or feel me, so all I could do was cry with him.

So, what do you think? Please tell me. Raimundo's dad comes in to the next chapter. I write it as soon as I can. I hope you like it!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi. Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews.

What I still couldn't believe was how Raimundo's mom died. Even if a marriage isn't working out, there's always divorce. You would have to be pretty sick to kill your spouse. I tried to imagine my dad kill my mom, but I couldn't no matter how wild my imagination went. My parents loved each other too much even if things weren't working out. According to the newspaper Raimundo got after he stopped crying, after he killed his wife, he was found sitting on the front steps of his house saying he was going to shoot himself and now he was in jail. Raimundo cried some more after reading this, thinking over and over 'I hate him!' until he cried himself to sleep.

Later Miranda and his grandparents came over. There was Grandpa Eric, his dad's father, and Gramp and Gran, his mom's parents. A lot of neighbors and other people Raimundo didn't know came later and kept telling Raimundo how sorry they were.

'Not half as sorry as I am,"

After everyone left but the grandparents and Miranda, Raimundo went into the kitchen and heated up some leftover pizza, while the adults talked in the living room. For awhile he just sat at the counter eating, then he heard what the grandparents were talking about. They were arguing over who Raimundo should stay with. The nerve of them talking about such an important issue without him! Raimundo ran in the living room so fast, I found myself on the living room floor in a second. "I'm not going to live in Brasilia OR Salvador!" Raimundo screamed. "I'm going to live in my mom's studio!"

"You can't Raimundo," said Gran. "There would be no one take care of you,"

"I'll take care of myself! The studio is the only part of Mom I have left! I'm staying here and that's final!"

Grandpa Eric opens his mouth to argue, but Miranda stops him. "You can stay in the studio until we decide where you're going to live, but only as long as your grandparents are here. We can't make you stay somewhere against your will, but you know you can't live here."

Raimundo hung his head and whispered "How long are you guys staying?"

"I'm staying until Eric's trial is over," Grandpa Eric said "I can stay in the house and take care of things,"

"What trial?" Gramp says angrily. "He shot my daughter. You're not going to tell me he's going to plead temporary insanity or some crap like that," and then he started crying.

Then the room dissolved and I started falling again. I landed on the couch in the studio, where Raimundo and Miranda were talking.

"I don't want to go to the funeral home," Raimundo whined. "I want to remember how she was when she was alive, not have her dead image burned on my brain! Why does the casket have to be open?"

I can imagine how Raimundo must feel. I wouldn't want my mom's dead body on my memory either.

"Raimundo, you have to go. Not just for yourself, but for your grandparents,"

"I wish they would just butt out! I know she was their daughter, but she was my mother! They act like my feelings are nothing compared to theirs.

The room dissolved again and this time I landed on a hard concrete floor. I was in the funeral home. Raimundo was standing beside me looking at an open casket a few feet away. I hoped Raimundo didn't look into it. The grandparents were talking by the refreshments table and Miranda was talking to the funeral director. Raimundo walked over to the casket. I didn't really want to look, but I wanted to try to understand how Raimundo felt. She looked like she did in Raimundo's drawing, only in the drawing she wore a T-shirt and jeans. Now she was wearing a dark blue suit and make-up. She also looked cold and .....well, dead.

' Mom has never worn a suit or make-up in her life! She hated getting dressed up! I'll bet Gram did this. Mom's spirit must be pissed!

Then he noticed something shiny on her face. Since I was in his memory, I had to notice it too. There was a small, shiny, round spot on her forehead that looked like plastic wrap, and another spot under her right eye. Suddenly we both realized what those were. I screamed and Raimundo stuffed his entire fist in his mouth to keep himself from screaming. Then he went limp, staggered back a bit, and started to fall. Then everything went black.

Sorry to stop here of all places, but I have school tomorrow and I have to get to bed. I'll update as soon as I can. Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Carpet. I was lying on carpet. When I opened my eyes, I saw that we were in the funeral director's office. Raimundo was just waking up on the couch. The adults were standing around talking. Miranda was the first to notice he was awake.

"Raimundo! Are you okay?"

"I-I think so. What happened?"

"You were looking at you mom, when suddenly you put a fist in your mouth and you fainted. You haven't been out long, but we were about to call an ambulance, "

"No, I'm fine,"

Then he remembers why he fainted and I can feel him holding back tears.

"Those shiny spots under her right eye and on her forehead. Is that where the bullet holes were?"

The funeral director looks uncomfortable.

"It's okay, you can tell him," said Miranda. "Raimundo is very brave, and sometimes he is too observant for his own good,"

The funeral director sighed. "I'm very sorry Raimundo. We did our best to make her look presentable, but we had to reconstruct most of the face from photos,"

"You did a great job," Raimundo tells him and the funeral director breathes a sigh of relief.

Raimundo gets up and brushes himself off. "You did a great job, but I don't think my mom would want anyone to see her. Could you please close the casket?"

"But she looks lovely!" Gram exclaims. "You're just upset right now Raimundo. I know this is difficult, but you're not the only one whose feelings matter here,"

I'm about to start screaming at her when the funeral director says "I believe he is right. I'm proud of the work we did, but I used to see Rachel walk by here on her way to 'Jays'. She was so beautiful and full of life. I used to think such liveliness should never die. And now it has. I don't think she would want anyone to see her either,"

The room is silent for a minute. If Gram says no, ghost-like or not, I'll close the dam casket myself. Then Raimundo says in a strong, clear voice "I think Mom has been hurt enough,"

"He's right," Gramp says to Gram, and the funeral director goes to close the casket.

The room dissolves, and I'm falling again, feeling proud of Raimundo for standing up to Gram like he did.

Sorry this chapter's so short. I promise the next one will be longer.


	5. Chapter 5

I should warn you there is some language in this chapter. Sorry krumsthedmg. The worst is yet to come!

I landed on the couch in Raimundo's living room where Grandpa Eric was talking with Raimundo. Miranda was sitting next to me.

"Raimundo, I stopped by the jail on the way here to see your dad. He's pretty depressed. He wanted me to give this to you," and handed him a letter.

At first, Raimundo looked like he was going to rip it up, then he hesitated, opened it, and started to read it. I got up and read over his shoulder.

Dear Raimundo,

I understand if you hate me. I hate myself. I know you want to know why, what happened. I'm sure you noticed that Rachel and I hadn't been getting along lately. I know that you loved your mom very much and I don't want to say anything that would change your opinion about her, but this will come out at the trial and I would rather tell you myself then you read in the newspaper. Your mom was going out with another man. She didn't tell me until this morning. She said she was going to leave and take you with her. I guess I went crazy after she left. I think I blacked out or something because the next thing I remember is sitting on the steps with a gun to my head and a lot of police around. They say I killed Rachel, but I have no memory of that. I would like you to see me, but not yet. Don't forget that I love you. You are all I have left.

Lots of love,

Dad

"Fuckin' bullshit!" Raimundo screamed, and tore up the letter.

I was surprised to hear that kind of language from a nine-year old.

"He expects me to believe that shit? Mom wouldn't fool around! And like hell he didn't know what he was doing! And if he really loved me, he wouldn't do this to me! He's just trying to get me to side with him!"

"Raimundo-" started Miranda, but then Grandpa Eric started yelling at him.

"Don't be stupid! Why would your own father lie to you? You're not much of a son to accuse him like that!"

"I know mom wouldn't do something like that and that's how I know he's lying! And even if he wasn't, I still won't forgive him! I don't care if he gets killed in jail! I don't ever want to see him again!"

That's when Grandpa Eric slapped him. He slapped him so hard, he fell over and had a big, red mark on the side of his face. Raimundo got up and ran out the door so fast, that I got swept off my feet and was getting dragged on my stomach. I think Miranda tried to run after him, but Raimundo was too fast and ditched her. He didn't even slow down until he came to a place just outside the city, high enough so you could look over it. (The place he went to in 'In the Flesh' when he was mad.) Then he sat down with his arms tightly folded across his chest, and after a minute of glaring at the city he lost it. He was crying so hard it looked like he was having a hard time catching his breath. He kept hugging himself tighter, as if he was trying to squeeze the air out of himself and be done with this nightmare. It wasn't fair for a kid like Raimundo to go through this. No kid should. If it were me, I would have committed suicide. How could he be like he was at the temple when all this had happened to him? I was so tear blinded, I hardly noticed the scene dissolving and that I was falling again.

I'll update as soon as I can. Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

When I said "The worst is yet to come," I meant more bad stuff is going to happen to Raimundo. But things get a lot better for him in this chapter.

After I landed and dried my tears, I was surprised to see I was on the school soccer field. Raimundo was walking toward the coach, who was getting out lots of soccer balls. Raimundo looked a bit happier. "Hey Coach,"

"Raimundo!"

The coach looked startled, but glad to see him. "I thought you were never coming back to school again!"

"I'm not. I don't want kids staring at me or telling me their sorry. I've had enough of that. But I really miss soccer. So I was wondering if I could help you teach,"

The coach scratched his head. "I would love for you to help out with one student. But I'm going to have to talk to your teacher first,"

Raimundo nodded and started kicking around a soccer ball while the coach went into the school. After a few minutes, recess came. Most of the kids were playing two-square, or dodge ball, or jump rope, but one girl sat on a bench in front of the soccer field reading. I saw her eyes go from the book to Raimundo now and then. The girl was Raimundo's height and age, with fair skin, green eyes, and beautiful, red, curly, hair that went down to her waist. I noticed Raimundo was sneaking peeks at her now and then to. Then he 'accidentally' kicked the ball over to the bench. "Hi," he said as he went over to get it.

"Hi," she said in a quiet voice, her attention focused on the book suddenly.

"What are you reading?"

She flashed him the cover.

"Define 'Normal'. Is it good?"

She nodded and I think I saw a faint blush in her cheeks. Or maybe she was hot from wearing a cotton jacket in this weather.

"What's it about?"

"A punk and an overachiever in a peer counciling program trying to get each other to open up and talk,"

'Kind of what I'm trying to do with you.'

Finally, the girl looked up at him. "You're a good soccer player,"

"Thanks. I don't think I've seen you here before. Are you new?"

The girl nods then asks "Why were you out here before the bell rang?"

Raimundo hesitates, then says "I'm a teaching assistant in P.E."

"Oh," says the girl, suddenly depressed.

"What's wrong?"

"I suck at P.E. I usually just hang back and watch the others, but then I feel useless. I'd like to try, but I don't want to look like a retard in front of everyone. Usually if I keep my head down, nobody notices me,"

Now I was sure she was blushing. She seemed to think she said too much.

'This must be the student Coach wanted help with.'

"Would you like me to help you?" he offered, holding up the ball.

The girl stared at him for a moment, as if deciding whether he wanted to help her to make fun of her, out of sympathy, or if he actually wanted to help. "Okay, thanks,"

After a few minutes of just running around, kicking the ball to each other, Raimundo said "By the way, my name's Raimundo," and grinned at her.

"I'm Tay," she replied, and smiled back.

I was glad Raimundo was finally happy for awhile. He was begining to become the Raimundo I knew at the temple. A few minutes before the bell rang however, I heard Raimundo think 'Mom!' and the wind went out of his sails. He sighed, picked up the ball, walked over to the bench, and sat down.

"What's wrong?" asked Tay.

"Nothing," snapped Raimundo.

Tay looked a little hurt. She had lowered her defenses only to get dropped in the dirt. "Okay then. Bye," she said softly and started to walk away.

"Tay, wait,"

'She shared her feelings with me. I guess it's my turn.'

"I'm sorry. It's just that my mom died recently and this is the first time I've done something without thinking of her at all. She was a very special person, and I don't ever want to forget about her. That would be like her dying completely. And please don't say you're sorry about her dying. I've had enough of that stuff and it won't help bring her back,"

Tay stared at him for a moment then said " I can understand that it hurts and probably will never go away, but it might get better if you let it. Your mom wouldn't want you to grieve for her the rest of your life. She'd want you to live your life. Just because you don't think about her every second of your life doesn't mean you're going to forget about her. She was a important person in your life and I'm sure you couldn't forget her if you tried,"

I felt Tay's words lift Raimundo's spirits.

'That's a million times better then saying sorry, and a lot more helpful.'

Raimundo smiled at her. "Thanks Tay. That really means a lot,"

Tay smiled back, and the scene dissolved and I started falling again, relieve that not all of Raimundo's memories were sad.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this one took longer. I'm still wondering what's going to happen in the chapter after this.

Raimundo had more happy memories of him and Tay. When he was with her, he forgot all about his troubles and worries. He would teach her soccer, they would play cards and video games at the studio, tell jokes, and just talk. Once Tay even told his future with playing cards. After they became good friends, Raimundo told her about how his mom died, his current situation about his dad, his fight with Grandpa Eric, and how he needed to find a permanent home while they were playing crazy eights. "Well, my family could adopt you, but I don't think you'd like it,"

"Why not?"

"We travel around a lot. In fact, we're going to Santos next week,"

Raimundo dropped his hand. "What?"

"I'm sorry Raimundo. With my parents' job we have to move every couple of weeks. Usually I'm home schooled, but my parents felt I needed to work on my social skills because I don't really feel comfortable around other people,"

'No kidding.'

"But what kind of job would make people move so often. You must have a hard time buying and selling houses in a couple of weeks."

Tay smiled. "We don't live in houses. We live in trailers. After you've done it all your life, moving so often is like a daily chore. My whole family isn't just my parents, so it can be a hassel. It takes a day to get everybody ready,"

"All day? How much family do you have?"

"Seventy-four people,"

Raimundo let out a low whistle. "Either you have too many relatives living with you, your parents have been busy, or both,"

Tay's smile broadened. "No, we're not all actually related. We just say we're a family because that's what we feel like. You know, I have a brother I think you would really like. Actually we adopted him, but he feels like my brother. Would you like to meet him?"

Raimundo shrugged and said "Why not?"

Soon we came to the fairgrounds where a lot of tents were set up. Tay led us to the very back of the grounds where a lot of trailers were. There where also a lot of clowns, jugglers, and a fire eater practicing.

"No wonder you travel so often!"

Tay nodded. "I think when I'm old enough I'm going to be a fortune teller, because Madame Kavorci says I had a gift. I know it's all fake, but it's fun and to me it's interesting,"

Tay tapped a juggler on the back, who had brown hair, eyes, and skin and looked about twelve. He caught the plastic swords he was juggling and looked at Tay. "Hey Tay. Who's your friend?" He nodded at Raimundo.

"This is my friend Raimundo. Raimundo, this is my brother Fabio,"

"Nice to meet you Ri," said Fabio and extended his hand.

"Likewise," Raimundo replied and shook it.

Tay and Fabio showed Raimundo around, introduced him to some people, and they played some arcade games. Pretty soon, Raimundo and Fabio were acting like old friends. Raimundo was having a great time. Soon it got late. Raimundo sighed. "I guess I better go...."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Fabio asked.

"Fabio!"

"Relax Tay, I already asked Mom. She said it would be fine,"

They both looked at Raimundo hopefully. Raimundo shrugged and smiled "Why not?" and they started towards their trailer.

"Shouldn't you call your parents? We have a phone in the trailer," asked Fabio.

'Grandpa Eric doesn't give a damn whether I'm home or not ever since that argument.'

"They're away tonight, so I'm going to be home alone anyway,"

That actually was the truth.

"Oh. Well, if it's okay with Mom, would you like to sleep over?"

"That'd be great,"

"Great, I'll ask her now," and ran ahead.

Raimundo and Tay took their time so they could talk. "You won't tell them about my family, will you?"

Tay shook her head. "Not unless you want me to,"

"Thanks,"

Raimundo looked over at the circus. "You have a great family Tay. But I'm going to need some more time to get to know them before I decide about living here. So far I like it here. Do you really think your parents will adopt me?"

Tay nodded. "I'm sure they'll love you. Won't it be cool being siblings?"

Raimundo smiled. "It'll be great. And you were right. Fabio is really cool,"

Suddenly, he stopped walking, with a stricken look on his face.

"Raimundo? What's wrong?"

"What if Dad talks his way out of jail at the trial?" and all the hate, sadness, anger, fear, and pain flowed back. Then I started falling again.

Like I said, I'm not sure what's going to happen at the trial, so the next chapter may take longer.


	8. Chapter 8

I couldn't think of a way for the trial to go with a happy ending, so I decided to skip it. Sorry for not being very creative. Just so you know, Raimundo's dad got life in prison. Also, here are some ideas for you practical joke lovers!

I landed on the fairgrounds. People were taking down tents and booth, and putting the animals and games into trucks. Suddenly, I got the wind knocked out of me, fell over, and started getting dragged on my butt. Raimundo was walking in the opposite direction I was facing. He looked happy for some reason. He was carrying a box full of stuff. He went into to a trailer. There was a T.V, a couch, a mini oven, stove, sink, and refrigerator, a card table, two bunk beds, and a door that I think led to a bathroom. Fabio and Tay were sitting on the beds. Fabio was holding a box of stuff too. "Are you sure about this?" Fabio asked Raimundo.

Raimundo shrugged. "I'm going to miss Rio de Janeiro, but we'll come back sometime, and right now it reminds me too much of Mom and Dad. I need some time to forget what happened for awhile,"

"I meant the sleeping arrangements. You're sure you want to share a room with Tay, Mom, and Dad?"

"Why, do you want to stay here?"

"No, I just want to make sure you don't change your mind. Staying with Carlos and Isabella permanently is going to be great! I hope you two get along as roommates," and he left.

Then I got it. Raimundo's dad must have gone to prison and Tay's family had adopted Raimundo. I hoped things would go nicely for him for awhile. They did. After a couple mouths, you would think Raimundo was really Tay's brother. He called her parents, who where acrobats, by their real names, but he was definitely part of the family. That included everyone in the circus. Now I could see why Raimundo was like he was at the temple. To them playing pranks was like doing homework. If someone got hurt, it wasn't funny. You had to be able to laugh at it afterwards, even if it happened to you. Like Raimundo and Tay put salt in the sugar bowl and a rubber band around the thing that squirts water at the sink (I don't know what it's called) for Tay's dad. After he put what he thought was sugar in his coffee and drank it, he ran over to the sink, turned the faucet all the way up, and got squirted full blast. Also, they put flour in Isabella's hair dryer. With Fabio, Raimundo figured out how to pick the lock on the bathroom door, and opened while Fabio was taking a dump, while Tay was video taping it. It wouldn't have been that bad if Fabio was reading, but he was playing his guitar while singing "Singing On The Toilet". But they got their share of pranks, like thinking Fabio was getting electrocuted. My favorite was when Ri and Tay stayed up late and watched "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". In the morning, Fabio found them in the same bed with their arms around each other and was about to think otherwise (ewww!) when he found the video in the T.V. He got a hockey mask, a chainsaw, and Isabella with a video camera. After they got everything ready, Fabio started the chainsaw and swung it around over his head when they woke up. They screamed and Raimundo fell out of the bed trying to back away, pulling the window blinds down with him. Then they realized who it was, and once then chainsaw was turned off and Fabio and Isabella started laughing, Ri and Tay started beating Fabio to the floor with their pillows. I noticed that Raimundo and Tay always worked together and never against each other. They could always share their thoughts and feelings with each other and talk. They were the best of friends.

In the circus, Raimundo wanted to be an acrobat and he got really good. I saw where he learned some of his fighting skills. When he got to the age he was now, it suddenly hit me. How long had I been in the thought keeper? I got worried. Had I been here as long as the years that had gone by here, even if they were just bits and pieces?

I hoped it wouldn't be long until I reached the last memory. Then I started falling again.

I'll update soon. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting.


	9. Chapter 9

There's some violence in this chapter, and I should warn you that Raimundo and his family are going to suffer a little. Okay, maybe a lot. If you don't want Raimundo to suffer anymore, turn back now!

I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I saw when I landed. It was night. The circus was set up in a field about a quarter of a mile from a city. People wearing black boots, gloves, jackets with the hoods up, pants, and white masks were yelling and running around the circus with torches, knives, and guns. The ones with torches set fire to the tents. The ones with knives started tormenting the animals. The ones with guns shot at the sky. Some of the people from the circus were trying to save the animals and kids. A few others were trying to stop the strangers. They ended up getting wounded or knocked out. Panicked, I looked wildly around for Raimundo. I heard him scream "Leave him alone! Leave him alone!"

I looked behind me. Raimundo was trying to escape Tay and her mom, who were trying to get him, Tay, and the some kids younger than eight away from the scene. Raimundo was yelling at a guy who had just shot Fabio's shoulder for trying to stop him (Fabio was sixteen now.) and was now beating him up. Tay's dad was trying to get to him, but was too busy fighting off the strangers.

"Let me go! I have to help! There're going to kill them!"

"Raimundo stop," said Tay's mom. "It's too dangerous. I've called the police. They'll be here soon. But we have to get away,"

Then they heard shouting. Some of the strangers had tied the clowns to poles and were whipping them. Then the tents fell. The fire was spreading. Some of the jugglers were trying to put it out.

"Raimundo, Tay, I've got to go help put out the fire. Go get everyone somewhere safe,"

Tay started leading the kids away, but Raimundo tried to follow Tay's mom. "I can fight them! I'm not afraid! We shouldn't run and hide and let these creeps destroy our home! We should fight back!"

"Do as you are told Raimundo! If you don't help get those kids to safety, they'll be killed! And there is more to this than you think! Go, hurry!"

Raimundo went to help Tay, with an angry expression on his face thinking ' This isn't right. They're never going to leave us alone if we don't do something to stop them! We can all beat these creeps if just stand up and fight! But no ones going to because they're too scared to take a risk and do what they think is right! We shouldn't run like cowards! We should stand up for ourselves!'

I could imagine the same thing going though his head when Master Fung told us we had to run from Mala Mala Jong. I didn't blame him! If all I could do was run away while my home was being destroyed and my family and friends where getting the crap beat out of them, I'd probably be thinking the same thing!

They were halfway to the city, when something popped up from the ground a few feet in front of them. Everyone screamed. It was one of the strangers. Tay motioned for the kids to get behind her, while Raimundo started going to it ready to fight. But when the stranger pulled down his hood and took off his mask, Raimundo stopped in his tracks. He went pale. Tay gasped. The stranger had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was looking right at Raimundo. His face was expressionless. Finally Raimundo said something I was not ready for. "Dad?"

I know this is cruel, but I'm going to leave you hanging there for awhile. I'll update soon though. Bye!


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter. I thought of what happened in the trial. Enjoy!

After Raimundo spoke, his dad cracked an insane smile.

"Bet you never thought you'd see me again, huh?"

"I-I thought you got life in prison for lying to the court and murder,"

His dad's smile broadened. "You sound as if you aren't happy to see me. You've really grown since I last saw you. Which was a long time ago, considering you've never come to visit me,"

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I came to see you. I've missed you a lot, so I escaped to see you. But you weren't at either of your grandparents' houses or at our house our even in Rio de Janeiro. I never dreamed you would have joined a circus. But then you and your mom always did like to joke around a lot. Anyway, I couldn't find you anywhere and I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I joined that group of gentlemen over there,"

"You're making them attack us to find me?"

"No, they just like terrorizing and destroying things that make people happy. I joined them in hopes that one day I would find you. And now finally being one of them has paid off. After all this time, I've finally found you,"

He started toward Raimundo, but Raimundo stepped back, grabbed a stick from the ground, and held it like a sword. "Get back," he snarled.

His dad stopped. "Raimundo," he said weakly. "You're not still upset about what happened a long time ago, are you? I thought I explained everything in the letter."

"First of all, it doesn't matter how long ago it happened, it's impossible to forget what you did. I miss her every day. Secondly, I didn't believe a word of what you said in the letter. You were a psychiatrist. You were trying to turn me against Mom. I know she wouldn't fool around. And Thirdly, I saw the trial. You tried the same story with the court, but Mom had already told your boss you were having affairs with students and she had letters from them as proof. Then you started singing a different song when you were backed into a corner, but it didn't work. You aren't worth shit. If you had to kill somebody, why couldn't you kill yourself? Why did it have to be her? I need Mom, not you. I love her, not you. I hate you.

The smile on his dad's face vanished and he started for Raimundo again. Raimundo brought the stick up to hit him, but he caught the stick as it came down, ripped it out of Raimundo's hands, broke it in two, and flung the pieces to the ground. Raimundo stood poised, ready to fight to the death, when they heard sirens. Raimundo's dad turned toward the city to see red flashing lights. The police were coming. Raimundo's dad started running toward the circus. Raimundo started to run after him, but Tay stepped in front of him and shook her head.

"You're a great fighter Ri, but he has a size and strength advantage. Besides, you can't just murder him in front of the police or you'll get sent straight to Juvinille Hall. Let the police get him,"

But when the police got to the site, the strangers were gone. The police said they could replace the tents and stuff, but a few of the animals were killed and several people and animals were injured, especially the clowns. The police said they would keep watch over the circus at night until they left. They would have to stay until everyone got out of the hospital. Raimundo or Tay told the police why the people attacked, but neither one mentioned that Raimundo's dad was one of the creeps to anyone. And the kids were too scared to talk and when they finally could, they forgot about it.

"The police most likely already know he's escaped prison, and if they're looking for the guys that he's with, they'll catch him eventually," Raimundo told Tay.

Tay looked a bit scared. "But now he knows where you are. What if he comes back to get you?"

"The police said they would keep an eye on us. If he does come, they'll see him,"

Tay was silent for a moment, then she said "I sure hope Fabio and the others are going to be okay,"

Raimundo nodded. I knew he was worried about them, but I also knew that despite what he said, he was scared of his dad coming. I was scared too. And I couldn't believe what those people did to the circus! They were insane! I couldn't believe people could be so evil. I hoped they would be caught before they did something like this again. Then I started falling again.

I'll update soon. Bye!


	11. Chapter 11

In case you're wondering, this takes place a couple months after Raimundo saw his dad.

I was on the floor of Raimundo's trailer when I landed. It was dark outside. The trailers were in a lot. Raimundo and Tay were sitting on their bunks talking to Fabio, who looked fully recovered, and Tay's parents, who were in their circus outfits. "Now, are you two sure that you'll be fine here by yourselves while we're at the show?" asked Tay's mom.

I was shocked. After what had happened they were leaving them by themselves? But then they were in a different city and, judging by Fabio's arm, it happened quite awhile ago. "We'll be fine," said Raimundo. "We've got pizza and if anything happens, Isabella's at the trailer at the other end of the lot,"

"Raimundo's right. You guys go ahead and have fun. Good luck with your first show Fabio," said Tay.

"Thanks," said Fabio, looking a little nervous and exited. "Don't have too much fun while we're gone,"

"We won't," and with that, Fabio and Tay's parents left and locked the door behind them.

After a few hours of playing video games and cards, they went to bed and watched 'Paycheck'. Then there was a knock at the door. They ignored it. The knock was repeated several times before the person broke down the door. That got Ri and Tay's attention. We all screamed. It was Raimundo's dad. He had an almost empty bottle of what smelled like whiskey and made a fist with the other. He went over to Raimundo's bunk, hit him on the head with the bottle, and dragged him out of the bunk. Tay jumped from her bunk, picked up the game system, and flung it at Raimundo's dad. But he caught it, put it down, went over to her, and started hitting her. I started crying because I thought he was going to kill her.

Raimundo, recovering over the blow he took, got up and started fighting with his dad the way he did with Jack's robots. But Tay was right. Ri was a great fighter, but his dad had a size and strength advantage. He threw his weight against Raimundo, knocking them to the floor, pinned him with his weight, and started choking him. I knew Raimundo would be okay in the end, but I was still scared. Raimundo was panicking. He couldn't breathe and was losing more air by having a 340 pounds on top of him. Then Tay grabbed a skillet off the mini stove, ran over to them, raised the skillet over her head, and brought it down into Raimundo's dad's head with a huge noise that sounded between a crack and a dong. Raimundo's dad went unconscious. Tay pushed him off of Raimundo. His face was completely drained of color, his eyes were wide, and he was hyperventilating. Tay looking the same, knelt beside him, sat him up, and forced him to breathe slower and to calm down. When he finally got the air back into his lungs and relaxed a little, Tay gently hugged him. "And you say I can't use a skillet,"

Raimundo laughed tiredly. "No, I said you can't use a skillet to save your life. But apparently you can use one to save mine,"

"I was so scared,"

"Same here,"

They hugged each other for a while. Then we all noticed Raimundo's dad wasn't breathing.

Cliffie! But I'll update soon! Bye!


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but I had something else in mind.

There was no heartbeat, no pulse, no body heat, and no doubt about it. He was dead. His eyes were just glazed over and stared up at nothing and his jaw was hanging open. Tay started to shake violently. "Oh god," she breathed.

"Tay, relax. It's going to be okay,"

"What the hell are we going to tell Mom and Dad?"

"Nothing. And if you give me a hand here, they won't need an explanation.

They carried the body outside and stuffed it in a port-a-potty. Tay was shaking so hard, they almost dropped it on the way.

"Now what," Tay asked. "We can't just close down the port-a-potty,"

"I'll go get Fabio. The juggling act ought to be over by now. He'll no what to do. You watch the port-a-potty,"

"No!" Tay grabbed Raimundo's arm. "What if he tells someone? Raimundo, I could get arrested!"

"Tay, calm down. Fabio won't squeal without a plan of how you won't get arrested. Fabio won't let anything happen to you and neither will I. Everything's going to be okay. Just wait here,"

Tay nodded and sat down in front of the port-a-potty, still shaking.

"I promise, I'll get back as soon as I can. Try to stop shaking or people are going to sense an earthquake," and he ran off to the tent as fast as he did after Grandpa Eric slapped him.

When he came back with Fabio, Tay was still shaking. After Raimundo and Fabio got her to stop, Ri and Tay told Fabio everything. After Fabio peeked inside the port-a-potty, he said "I'm gone for a few hours and find a dead guy in the port-a-potty. If I didn't know the know the whole story, I'd think he'd had some major problems in the basement.

"This isn't funny Fabio!" yelled Raimundo.

"I know it's not. But I wouldn't worry too much. It was self-defense. Though it could cause some bad publicity for the circus. Not many people are going to want to go to a circus with a murdered in it. I know you didn't mean to Tay and that you aren't performing yet, but you know how the paparazzi sometimes twist things around to make a good story. And although it was self-defense, the police are going to be bugging us for awhile,"

Raimundo growled. "Great! Even when he's dead he finds a way to ruin our lives! Why couldn't he have just killed himself instead of coming after us?" he paused for a moment, then asked "Fabio, do you think we could make it look like he killed himself?"

"That's going to be hard to do. How do you think he could purposely crack the back of his head open by himself in a place like this?"

After a moment of thinking, Raimundo said "Well, nobody but the police care that he's gone, and they won't care after a few months because they'll think he killed himself and no one ever found the body. We just have to destroy it somehow. We can't hide it in this city without anyone finding it eventually,"

Then his eyes got wide, and he grinned. "Fabio, do you still have that key to Carlos's food vendor?"

"Yeah, Why?"

Ghost-like or not, I threw up several times while they did it. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. In fact, I still wasn't sure I believed it. They actually barbecued Raimundo's dad. Tay didn't puke, but she sure looked like she was. When they were done Fabio said he would take care of the rest, and it was morning now, so Ri and Tay sat at a picnic table and read the funnies like they always did in the morning so no one would get suspicious. A person we didn't know came to the vendor, placed his order, and Fabio gave him something. We didn't take any notice of it until we heard the guy say to Fabio "This is the best darn barbecue I've ever had,"

We all looked over to see him eating Raimundo's dad. As Fabio walked by us to refill the napkin holder on a table, Ri and Tay gave him a wide-eyed 'Are you insane?' look. Fabio smiled and shrugged at them. They looked once more at the man eating the barbecue, and held the funnies in front of their faces so no one could see them giggling.

When Tay's parent's started to come over, the man called them over. After a few minutes of talking to him, they started over to Raimundo and Tay's table with worried expressions on their faces, but then Fabio called to them. After they went over to the trailer lot, Tay asked Raimundo "What do you think is going to happen?"

"After we go to our next stop, our lives are going to go back to the way they were before we saw my dad. You're not going anywhere Tay, and neither am I," and he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

Then Tay's dad came over. He looked more worried than before. "Guys, lets go back to the trailer. We need to talk,"

The next chapter is coming up soon. Until then!


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry about the wait. I had a writer's block for awhile. This is the last of Raimundo's memories.

When they came into the trailer, Tay's mom looked worried and sad, and Fabio looked sad and guilty. "Guys, Fabio told us what happened tonight-"

"What?" interrupted Raimundo. "Fabio, you said you wouldn't tell!"

"Raimundo just listen, this is important,"

"Anyway, you guys did a great job of taking care of the body, but you forgot about his car,"

Raimundo blinked. "What?"

"His car. The man that we talked to was a detective. He said that the car that the car your dad took after he escaped is in the parking lot. They know that he's here. Or at least he was...."

"And?"

"Well Raimundo, they don't think it's safe for you here. They said they found a place where your dad won't ever find you, but it's in China,"

"What?" he yelled. "But he's not alive anymore! I don't have to go, do I?"

Before Tay's parents could say anything, Tay said "No, don't send him! Please, I'll tell the police I killed his dad! I'd rather go to Juvenile Hall then make Raimundo leave!"

Tay's dad sighed. "This isn't just about you and Raimundo Tay. If this gets out, It could be bad publicity for the circus. And not just for this city. People all over Brazil might get the wrong idea about us. Like that we kill for the heck of it, or that all of our circus performers attract psychos. We're just got people over the terrorists, or whoever they were. Performing is all everyone here knows how to do,"

"So you're saying I have to go?" Raimundo yelled. "You're just going to send me almost halfway around the world to some weird place you know nothing about-"

"Actually we do know about it," said Tay's mom calmly. "We got a notice in the mail about. It's kind of like a private martial arts school. It might help you on your way to becoming an acrobat. It's very elite, only three kids in the world are chosen-"

"So I'm supposed to be honored? I don't care if I'm the only kid in the world to be chosen! I'm staying here!"

"Raimundo, please. We already explained-"

"Yeah, I understand! For all of your lives to go back to normal you have to get rid of me! You know, if I was just going to ruin your lives why didn't you just leave me in Rio de Janiro!" and he ran out the door.

He was running as fast as he did the time Grandpa Eric slapped him and I was getting dragged on my stomach again, but instead of Miranda, Fabio and Tay were running after him. He tried to ditch them like he did with her, but they wouldn't give up easily. After a while when we were in a park with no one around, since Fabio had the longest legs, he finally tackled Raimundo. I was grateful when he did, because I was so sore! Raimundo tried to get up and run away, but Fabio had pinned him to the ground.

"Let me go!" Raimundo screamed.

"No, not until you hear the whole thing," whispered Fabio.

Tay caught up, and lay down beside them. "Raimundo, you just keep your mouth shut and stay there so you can hear everything I say. I can understand that you hate our parents for making you leave. But the police are going to take you away anyway. They're only doing what they think is best for everyone. If you really don't want to go to China you don't have to and if you try it and don't like it, we won't make you stay there, but the police are going to take you somewhere just as far so your dad won't find you. You know I'd tell the police the truth, but just think about what might happen to everybody at the circus. Now don't think that you're ruining their lives by staying here, because you're not. We know it's not your fault. You know we all love you, right?"

Raimundo was quiet for a few minutes then said softly "Yeah, I know you do. I love you guys too. I understand that I have to leave, but..... when will I see you again?"

Fabio laughed. "Raimundo, did you think we were banishing you? In a month or so, the police will close the case and you can come back. It's only going to be for a little while,"

Tay reached over and ruffled Raimundo's hair. "Yeah, and as hard as it is to believe, we'd miss you after awhile,"

Raimundo grinned. "You guys may be pains in the butt sometimes, but I'm going to miss you to. Speaking of pains, could you please get off me Fabio?"

Fabio chuckled, got up, and helped up Raimundo.

Then I started falling again and I landed just outside the trailer, next to where Raimundo was standing. Also next to him was the stuff that he took to the temple. I saw that there were tears in his eyes. Standing in front of him was Tay with the hood of her jacket up. She had tears in her eyes too. They were looking straight at each other.

"Well," he said. "I guess this is good-bye for awhile,"

"Yeah," she replied. "But not forever. Just a few months. So, you'll write?

"I'll write,"

I think they were stalling. Then a horn honked, and Raimundo said "I have to go,"

But as he started to leave, Tay grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "Wait," she said. "I have something for you. Hopefully it will bring you luck. Not that you'll need it, but just in case....."

As she spoke, she pulled something from her pocket, put in into his hand, and closed his fingers around it. When Raimundo looked at it, his eyes got wide. So did mine. It was a braid about two feet long of thick, red, curly, hair. Raimundo slowly reached up and pulled down her hood. Her hair was still thick and curly, but now it only just reached her shoulders.

"Tay...."

"I didn't really like it long. It always got in my face and it was a pain to brush. Mom's not going to be happy,"

Raimundo grinned at her and she smiled back. Then they hugged, and I think I saw Tay kiss Raimundo's cheek before they broke away.

Raimundo started picking up his stuff, when suddenly I felt a hand grip my forearm. Startled, I looked up and to my horror, it the real Raimundo, white with rage.

"Having fun?" he murmured through clenched teeth.

Before I could answer, he raised his other hand and I saw he was holding the thought keeper's stick. The other end of the cord it was attached to seemed to lead up into the sky. Keeping a tight grip on my forearm, he twirled the stick and the scene dissolved into silver again, but this time instead of falling, the cord was pulling us up. When we finally reached the surface of the thought keeper, we were thrown into the air, and landed on the floor of the cavern.

I looked over at Raimundo and saw him grab a rock about the size of a wall clock, then he hurled it with great force at my head. I moved away just in time. The rock broke into several pieces when it hit the wall. I looked at him and was about to ask what the hell he was doing when I remembered. We were enemies now. If we were still friends and I saw these memories, he might have made me swear not to tell anyone. But now there was now reason for me not to tell Omi and Clay. There was only one was to make sure his secrets remain secrets. He was going to kill me.

Yes, like a lot of you guessed Raimundo did leave for temple in this chapter. I'll update as soon as I can. Bye!


	14. Chapter 14

You don't have to worry about Kimiko dying. If I killed her, I wouldn't have anyone to tell the story. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

"Raimundo, please," I said, trying to calm him down. "It was an accident. I had no idea-"

I quickly dodged another big rock aimed at my head, but he threw another rock I wasn't ready for that hit my side. It was sharp, so it left a cut. I could tell Raimundo wasn't listening to a word I was saying. He was too furious. I couldn't blame him and I probably deserved to get my butt kicked, but wasn't ready to die now and now I was mad about my side and the blood was not going to be easy to get out of this skirt. So I stood poised and ready, but when he reached for the next rock, we heard Clay shout "Third arm sash earth!"

The third arm sash blasted through the wall behind Raimundo, slammed into him, and he hit the opposite wall before falling to the ground unconscious.

I looked through the hole the third arm sash made to see Dojo, Omi, and Clay flying a few feet from the hole. "Guys!" I waved at them.

"Kimiko!"

When they saw me, they all looked very surprised and very relieved. Clay lassoed me, and pulled me onto Dojo. Once I was on, he flew away. Before I knew it, Omi had me in a rib-cracking hug, squeezing the air out of me. "Thank goodness you are safe! We were so afraid that Wuya and Raimundo had harmed you! Did they?"

After Clay helped separate me from Omi and I caught my breath, I asked "How long have I been gone?"

"We've been looking for you for two whole days! I've hardly gotten any sleep!" Dojo complained.

I couldn't believe it. "I've been gone for two days? What happened?"

Omi looked at me curiously. "What do you mean 'gone'?

"Let's tell our story first Omi." said Clay. "Wuya saw us when we were halfway to the opening. She called Raimundo and we fought him for awhile. Then Wuya sneaked up behind us, made a hole with the golden tiger claws to Iraq, and Raimundo knocked us in,"

"For some reason the people there seemed to hate Clay, but they stopped after we got him some different clothes and if he didn't talk. It is very puzzling," said Omi. "Anyway, then Wuya caught Dojo and used the tiger claws to transport him to Alaska,"

"I nearly froze to death there!" Dojo exclaimed. "Then I had to go to Iraq to pick up Omi and Clay, then we had to come back here for you, but you weren't anywhere!"

"We were worried that Wuya and Raimundo had caught you and were torturing your or something! Did they? And what did you mean 'you were gone'?" Omi asked again.

Then all of Raimundo's sad memories came back to me. How his mom died, how he had to see her body, the fight he had with Grandpa Eric, the attack on the circus, his dad, and how he had to leave Tay. Raimundo had been through so much pain. And we had lived together for so long and never even had a clue about how bad he had been hurt. Before I could stop myself, I burst into tears. Dojo slowed down to look at us. As much as I hated for the guys to see me cry, I couldn't stop. They were all looking at me with shocked and scared expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" asked Clay.

Omi rushed over to me. "Did they hurt you? Please tell us!"

I shook my head. I knew I should tell the guys something, but for some reason I didn't think I should. Raimundo and I were enemies, but I could tell by the look on his face and the fact he wanted to kill me that he really didn't want anyone to know. I felt horrible. I had looked at all of his painful memories and thought nothing of how he would feel about it until now. All the stuff I saw was private. Friends or not, I decided keep his secrets.

Omi and Clay kept asking what happened. I knew they were worried about me, but I knew I couldn't even tell them I had seen Raimundo's thoughts. After we got back to the temple, we ate, I got my side patched up, and Omi and Clay went to bed, but even though I hadn't slept in awhile, I wasn't tired. I sat outside under the tree, thinking about why Raimundo left. I knew he was mad at Master Fung for not letting us fight Mala Mala Jong. Could it have also been that he was afraid that by being Xiaolin Apprentices we were going to leave him like he had to leave his family? Maybe he thought he would never catch up and when he did we would be promoted to something else. Maybe he thought that if we were leaving him, if he joined Wuya he could get back at us.

Then I heard a voice behind me. "Troubles, young one?"

I turned around to see Master Fung. "Omi believes Wuya has done something to you. Is this true?"

I hesitated. I guess I could tell Master Fung a little. "While I was in the cave with Raimundo, I saw something of his that was personal. I'm not hurt besides my cut, I'm just still thinking about it. Please don't tell the guys or they'll want to know what I saw,"

Master Fung smiled. "Very well. Thank you," and he walked away.

Then I felt pretty tired, so I went to bed. As soon as I lay down however, I remember something that suddenly made me feel wide awake. Raimundo didn't think I would keep his secrets. He still wanted to kill me. He would kill me so his secrets would be safe and if I told, he would kill me for revenge. I guess I would have to talk to him next time a shen-gong-wu was activated. In the morning I would tell Omi and Clay my theory of why Raimundo left. I thought I would never get to sleep after this, but the next second, I blinked and it was morning.

The next chapter will be more exciting, but I might not update for awhile though, because I'll have company at my house for a few days. I will as soon as I can though. Bye!


	15. Chapter 15

This chapter goes to why Raimundo might have left.

Just as we all got out of bed and got dressed, Dojo sensed a shen-gong-wu. The painless cuff, which was supposed to make you oblivious to pain. I guess was going to tell the guys my theory of why Raimundo left, but when we were in the air, Clay said "Kimiko, in case we run into Raimundo again, I guess we should tell you that while we were lookin' for you, we crossed paths with him a few times, and he's been acting mighty strange,"

I gave him a weird look. "What else is new?"

"No, not normal weird. Really weird. Once when we were fighting, we tried to talk to him. He seemed a little hesitant about fighting us then, but then he winced like he was in pain, pulled his hood more over his face, and started fighting like he wanted to send us to the emergency room,"

"Then after Clay and I split up to look for you, I met up with Raimundo again. I told him that if I had said or done anything wrong, I was sorry. He looked confused for a moment, then cried out and clutched his head, then started to fight me.

"That is strange. Well, this time if we see him, let's get him to talk to us even if we have to tie him up and beat him with sticks,"

I believe Wuya has done something to him, but the questions are, what, why, and when?"

We landed in a dessert. Dojo said it was close, but there was only a cactus and the sand. We didn't see it hanging off the cactus, so we guess it was in the sand. "You know, this would have been easier if we had brought sifters or the falcon's eye," I complained as started digging.

After about an hour of digging, we heard Raimundo's voice.

"You realize you wouldn't have to do this if you checked underneath the flower on the cactus,"

We turned to see him standing by the cactus, holding a flesh-colored manacle. We could tell he had been watching us for awhile by the precipitation dripping from his face. If he just pulled down his hood he wouldn't be so hot! Then Raimundo made a portal with the golden tiger claws and started to leave, but Clay ran over, reached in the portal before it closed, and pulled him out. Held up momentarily, Raimundo kicked him with both legs in the stomach. Clay dropped him and doubled over. Raimundo was about to use the tiger claws again, but when he raised them, Omi kicked them out of his hand. Raimundo tried to get them back, but then Omi started fighting him. Clay, who had recovered, started to help Omi. I knew I should help to, but now that I knew what a hard time Raimundo's had, I felt sorry for him. But I knew Omi and Clay were counting on me, so I decided to just knock him out. I leapt into the air and sent a flying kick at his head. He just got Omi and Clay off him for a moment, then turned to go for me. When he saw me coming at him, he ducked, but not quickly enough for me to entirely miss. My foot got caught in his hood. I pulled it down before I landed hard on the ground. Luckily the sand cushioned the fall.

"Great Ghost of Dashi!" Omi exclaimed.

I looked up at Raimundo, saw why he said that, and would have lost my breakfast if I had eaten any. Across his head was a flat, thick, metal, rope-like thing that was holding in places what looked like the ends of needles. The tips looked like they were deep in Raimundo's head and dark red stuff was coming out of the areas the needles were in. At first I thought it was blood, but then I noticed it didn't really look like liquid. As quickly as it has come down, Raimundo pulled his hood back up, and turned to give me a look that could kill. If Raimundo had changed his mind about killing me, I was sure he changed it back.

What do you think the thing on his head is? Hint: it's not a mind control device. I'll update as soon as I can.


	16. Chapter 16

DesiredStorm, your guess was the closest. Read this to find out what it is.

As Raimundo stepped toward me, I grabbed a fist full of sand, and hurled it into his face. When his hands flew up to his eyes, I ran up to him and kicked his legs out from underneath him. He fell flat on his back. I raised my foot to knock him unconscious, when he threw sand in my eyes. It surprised me and I lost my balance and fell to the fell to the ground. The next thing I knew, Raimundo was on top of me, and his hands closed around my throat. They tightened for a moment, then loosed. I saw the angry expression on his face had been replaced with a horrified, confused one. I knew this reminded him of what his dad did to him and I knew that as much as he wanted to kill me now, he would not sink to his dad's level.

He scrambled up off of me, ran over to where the tiger claws were, and picked them up. Then I saw Omi and Clay were running towards him. Raimundo used the tiger claws to fly so they couldn't reach him, made a portal in the sky, and went through it. He was gone.

Omi and Clay ran to me, looking terrified.

"Are you alright?" Omi cried, looking at the bruises on my neck from where Raimundo's fingers were.

"Was that a mirage or did Ri really try to kill you?" Clay exclaimed. "He's either completely lost it or that thing on his head might be controlling him,"

"He's being controlled alright, but not by that thing," Dojo clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "Although it does control what's controlling him,"

Recovering after what had happened, I asked "Dojo, do you know what that thing was?"

"It'll be easier to explain when we get back to the temple. Right now, would you care to explain why he tried to kill you and then ran, because I'm not sure that the thing on his head would've made him do that,"

I wasn't sure whether or not I should tell them, but it didn't matter because something dawned on Omi at that moment.

"Kimiko," he said slowly. "Did Raimundo or Wuya by any chance use the thought keeper?"

I hesitated, then sighed, and nodded. "Raimundo did."

"Uh-huh," Dojo tugged on his chin. "Did you by any chance see anything he probably didn't want you to see?"

I sighed and nodded again. "But it had nothing to do with the fate of the world, or the temple, or us or anything like that. It was just some personal stuff. I don't really want to talk about it,"

They all nodded. I was glad that they understood. Then Clay turned to Dojo and asked "So what was that thing under Raimundo's hood? It looked more painful then a spur digging into your neck,"

"Like I said, it'll be easier to explain at the temple, so let's get going!"

When we were back at the temple, Dojo got out the scroll and laid it out in front of us. "Wuya must've found that before it was activated or I would have sensed it. It's a shen-gong-wu called the headpiece of wrath. It's used as a last resort because it's just a nightmare to wear, and extremely painful and difficult to take off,"

I rolled my eyes. "No kidding,"

"But what does it do?" Omi asked.

"Well, did you notice the red stuff coming out of the places the needles were? That wasn't blood, just so you know he isn't being hurt physically. Mentally though, it depends. See, the red stuff was anger. The headpiece of wrath makes you think about two things, and two things only. Who or what you're angry at, and why. That's all you can focus on and if somehow your anger starts ebbing away, the needles shoot more of it into you. That's probably why Raimundo was hurting while we were trying to talk to him. Not that I've ever tried it. Maybe the only reason he's with Wuya is to get back at us and if Wuya knows that's the main reason he's with her, she'd want to make sure that she wouldn't lose it. Right now, all he cares about is getting back at everyone he's angry at, and he doesn't care if he has to put the world in ten thousand years of darkness to do it,"

"Why would Raimundo put on the headpiece in the first place though? Would he want to stay angry so badly?" Omi wondered aloud.

"Maybe he didn't know what the headpiece would do to him!" I exclaimed. "Maybe Wuya told him it would make him invincible or something!"

Clay nodded. "That makes sense,"

He looked at Dojo. "So, how do we get it off?"

Dojo looked surprised. "Off?"

"Yeah," I nod my head in agreement. "How do we get the headpiece off so we can get Ri back to normal?"

Then Dojo's expression changed to mournful. "There's only one way. We have to kill him,"

That's it for now. I'll update soon. Bye!


	17. Chapter 17

Sorry about the wait. I had another writer's block. I hope you like this thrillers.

I was sure I misheard him. "What?"

"It's the only way, otherwise he'll always be on Wuya's side,"

"Kill him?" exclaimed Omi. "He may have betrayed us, but we can't kill him! He is our friend!

"**Was** our friend," corrected Dojo. "Even if you still like him, he'll hate you as long as he's wearing the headpiece of wrath, and we can't get it off without killing him,"

"There has to be a way to get that thing off that he'll live through! Dojo, isn't there anything we can do?" I asked.

Dojo thought for a minute. "We have three options, two which will cause a lot of pain and one which he has a twenty-five percent chance of living through. We can kill him while he's wearing the headpi-"

"Bite your lip!" shouted Omi.

"Tongue, bite your tongue," I corrected him. "What are the other options Dojo?"

"Well, we can just physically pull it off, but it will hurt him severely and eventually he'll die. Like I said, the last option he may live through, but the chances are slim. Of course, it might just make him worse, but if you really want to try it. . ."

"Well what is it?" I asked, growing impatient.

Dojo sighed and ran a hand down his face. "We can make him angrier. If we can make him mad enough, the headpiece of wrath won't be able to keep it under control and it will come off by itself. Although it will be overwhelmingly painful for Raimundo. We'll be taking a few of risks by doing this. It could just make him want to kill us more if he doesn't get mad enough, it could kill him if we make him too mad, or the pain might drive him crazy, but there is a chance he'll survive. Still want to do it?"

After we all exchanged unsure glances, I said "If it's the way,"

"So, how are we going to make him mad enough?" asked Clay.

"Perhaps if we brought up the time Tubbimara defeated him," Omi suggested.

"Or the time we played monkey-in-the-middle with the serpent's tail,"

"Or when we were trapped in that invisible box,"

"Or. . ."

While they were thinking about things that would make Raimundo mad, I was thinking about what I saw in the thought keeper. I knew that that would make the headpiece of wrath come off. But what if it made him to angry? Or what if he went mad by the pain of his memories? And I couldn't just yell out his memories in front of Omi and Clay, those were personal. I decided to use them only as an absolute last resort.

Suddenly Dojo started trembling violently. "Shen-gong-wu people! Next stop, the soothing sash!"

According to the scroll, the soothing sash could help relax and find absolute focus. It was usually combined with the tangled web comb, so I decided to bring that with me. While we were in the air, we tried to think of how to get the headpiece of wrath off of Raimundo just so.

"Dojo, would the painless cuff, soothing sash, or reversing mirror help Raimundo?" asked Omi.

"The painless cuff only makes you oblivious to physical pain, and the headpiece of wrath causes mental pain. The soothing sash might have worked at first, but since Raimundo's had the headpiece of wrath on for quite awhile, headpiece has probably been producing a lot of anger and would burn the soothing sash. The reversing mirror would be to risky to use because there isn't really an opposite to anger,"

"So basically none of our shen-gong-wus are going to be a lot of help," I stated.

"You got it,"

We landed near the place Wuya and Raimundo were staying. We hoped the soothing sash was well hidden so they couldn't find it. This time we brought the falcon's eye. We all took turns looking with it on the ground and the walls of the canyon. Suddenly I heard a slashing sound behind me and next thing I knew, I had the wind knocked out of me and my face was in the dirt. I rolled over to see Raimundo pulling a section of grass out from the place I was standing. After he shook the dirt off it, we saw it was the soothing sash.

"Jeez. Xiaolin apprentices and you're all as blind as bats.

"Miranda was right. Sometimes you can be too observant for your own good,"

I have no idea what possessed me to say that. I should have known that that thought would remind him of the funeral and his mom. And I knew he already wanted to kill me. I also should have realized he would be prepared for this time. He reached into his pocket and to my horror, it was a pocketknife, small, but it would work for his intentions. The guys started to run toward us, but they weren't close enough to help me in time.

As he lunged toward me, he let out a yell while thrusting the pocketknife down, and I was sure I saw some anger drip from his hood. I rolled aside just in time. He plunged the blade deep into the ground. As he tried to pull it out, I gave the guys a signal and we all started reminding him of things that made him angry. When he finally got the pocketknife free, he dashed for us and moved as if to try and cut all of our vocal cords.

We kept dodging the blade, shouting at the top of our lungs, and when I noticed Omi and Clay grinning and the look on Raimundo's face, I remembered the time we were playing keep away with the serpent's tail. I remembered how at first we were winning, then how Raimundo turned the tables completely. We couldn't let that happen again. We had to take things seriously this time.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the tangled web comb. "Tangled web comb!" I cried.

Raimundo was too busy trying to stab Omi to hear me, so it never occurred to him to dodge. Hair tied up and gagged him. This made him angrier. The angrier he got, the harder he fought to get out. And the harder he fought, the tighter the hair wrapped around him. By now, the anger was flowing out of his hood.

"It's working!" yelled Dojo.

We all held our breath, waiting, hoping he would be all right. Suddenly, he stopped. He just lay there, face down in the dirt, not moving, or even breathing. My blood ran cold. My heart stopped. Omi, Clay, and Dojo turned as white as ghosts. Time seemed to stop. Then, I broke the spell. "Raimundo?" I whispered.

Without warning, Raimundo's arms and legs sprang out, breaking free of the hair.

He jumped up, and let out a blood-curdling scream. We all jumped. Before we could do anything, Raimundo charged toward me and pinned me against the wall. Then he lifted the pocketknife.

Had you worried there, didn't I? Did you really think I'd kill my favorite character? Or maybe I just might. I'll update soon! Or maybe I'll torture you for a while. I'm feeling evil right now. Until them!


	18. Chapter 18

Since spicydount185 and DerryBabe asked so nicely, here's the next chapter.

Without thinking, I yelled out, "Raimundo, think of your grandparents!"

He dropped the pocketknife and he clutched his head grimacing. I knew he was angry with Gramp and Gran for not butting out and at Grandpa Eric for defending his dad. I was free, but I stayed with him. The guys started toward us to help me, but I gave them a signal to stop. They looked confused.

Raimundo fell to his knees. When he reached for the pocketknife, I said "Think of Tay's parents and the police!" and his hand flew back up to his head.

If it weren't for them, he never would have had to come here. I could tell he was in a lot of pain, but not enough. The anger started flowing out of his hood again. I didn't want to say anything else, but I knew we had to get the headpiece off. As much as I hated to do this in front of the guys, I knew it was either now or never. I picked up the pocketknife and knelt next to him. "Think of Master Fung,"

It was no secret why he was mad at him. Now Raimundo started shaking. He curled into a ball and yelled, "Cut it out!"

I pulled down his hood to look at the headpiece. It made my head hurt just to look at it. The anger that was flowing out was starting to push out the needles, but they were still in there. I started to reach up to try and pull them out, but Dojo screamed, "No! It has to come off by itself!"

I drew back. I knew how to make him angrier, but I was worried it would be too much. I couldn't bear the thought of having Raimundo's blood on my hands. Although by the look of pain on his face, it would probably be best to get it over with. "Think of the creeps that attacked your family,"

I could tell Raimundo was trying hard not to scream, his face was white with rage and pain. Anger was spewing out of his head now, but the needles were still in there. I could only think of one more thing of his painful memories, but it would be too much. I couldn't do it.

"C'mon Kimiko! You're on a roll!" Clay yelled.

"One more ought to do it! If you have one, say it!" screamed Dojo.

"I can understand that you fear for Raimundo's life, but if you do not say one more angry thought, he may go mad!" shouted Omi.

Raimundo couldn't stand it any longer. He started screaming at the top of his lungs, kicking, rolling in the pool of anger, and holding on to his head as though it would burst open at any minute. Omi was right. I had to do this. "Raimundo," I whispered.

I have no idea how he heard me over his screaming and the torture he was enduring, but somehow he did. He looked over at me, his eyes full of tears that he had tried to hold back, and the hurt of being betrayed. True, he betrayed us first, but that was hardly anything compared to what I was doing. It nearly broke my heart. I tried as hard as I could to say I was sorry with my eyes. Then, before I could change my mind I whispered loud enough only for him to hear, "Think of your dad,"

We were wrong when we thought that before he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Those screams were just whimpers compared to the one he let out. I thought we would all go deaf. Finally all the needles slipped out. When it fell, the needles sank into the ground. All the anger suddenly started being sucked toward the headpiece, absorbed up the needles, and into the top part. It began to glow a dark red, then the color filled the canyon, and I felt like blades were piercing every molecule on my skin, then a great force hit me and I went flying backward. Then everything went black.

The first thing I felt as I started to wake up was the dirt and rocks against the side of my face. I tried to lift my head, but it hurt so bad. I started to lay it back down, when everything came back to me. Raimundo! The thought gave me the strength and tolerance of pain to sit upright. I had to make sure he was okay! I brushed the dirt off my face before opening my eyes. It looked like there was a tornado. Before I got up, I checked to see if I had broke anything or something. I was pretty beat up and dirty, but I looked like I could move. Unfortunately, my body didn't feel that way. Then I noticed something flesh colored beside me. It was the painless cuff. Raimundo must've lost it in the explosion or whatever that thing was. Master Fung had warned us that the painless cuff could be a danger, but I was determined to find Raimundo and the others. I put it on, and set off, feeling better than new. I walked down the canyon calling out their names, praying that they were all okay. After I stopped calling for a minute, I heard something that sounded familiar. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Raimundo sobbing. I ran over toward the crying to see him crouched behind a rock. He crying as hard as he was after Grandpa Eric had slapped him. He was even squeezing himself as tight as before. But this time I could do something. What, I wasn't sure. I started walking slowly over to him. "Raimundo?"

He looked up at me. He looked at me the same way he had before I reminded him of his dad. My heart cracked again. Tears rolled down my cheeks. "Raimundo, I'm so sorry. I didn't say anything to anyone about what I saw until th-"

"Go," Raimundo sobbed.

He was exhausted, and crying his heart out wasn't helping. I wanted to do something to help him. Then I remembered what my mom did when I was younger when I was upset. I went over to him and sat down beside him. "Go," he sobbed again.

Instead, I put my arms around him. In spite of himself, he flung his arms around me and sobbed onto my shoulder. "Shhhhhh," I whispered and started rocking him gently.

After a minute, he started to calm down. We sat there for a long time just crying, until Raimundo cried himself to sleep. After a minute, I heard footsteps. I looked up. It was the others. They were all pretty beat up. Clay was rigid. Omi looked scared. Omi was about to call my name, but I put a finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet. Then he saw Raimundo was with me. He silently ran over to us, and looked incredibly relived to see Raimundo was still breathing. Clay walked over with Dojo on his hat, looked at Raimundo, then at me silently asking me if I was sure he was okay. I managed to smile and nod my head as an answer, and he relaxed. Dojo got off Clay's hat, walked a few feet away, and grew to his full length. Clay gently picked up Raimundo, walked over to Dojo, and got on. Omi and I got on after him. Dojo was careful not to wake Raimundo as he took off. Nobody said a word on the way back to the temple.

Just so you know, this isn't the end. I think I'm going to add one or two more chapters, then it'll be finished. Bye!


	19. Chapter 19

I am really, **really **sorry about the wait. I got out of the mood for awhile after seeing the last episodes. (In "Days Past" did you notice that they used some of M.C Escher's work in the showdown?) Anyway, I finally decided to get a muse to help me out and got this chapter finished. Here's the next chapter.

When Raimundo was safe in bed and Master Fung was checking up on him, Dojo told us what happened to the headpiece. "It tried to absorb all the anger up, but it was too much for it to handle. It exploded from trying to bite off more then it could chew,"

Master Fung said that Raimundo would be fine once he got over all the emotional pain. After we were checked out and our new shen-gong-wu was in the vault, Master Fung sent us to bed. But I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about Raimundo. What if he never got over all his memories? What if I had reminded him of the pain of his past too much and he fell into a deep depression? I bolted upright in bed with a terrifying thought. What if he woke up and felt so hopeless that he committed suicide right then? I jumped off my mat and ran to his room. Raimundo was still asleep, but it seemed like I wasn't the only who couldn't sleep. Omi jumped and whirled around to face me.

"Kimiko! You startled me!"

"Sorry Omi. You couldn't sleep either huh?"

" I know you and Master Fung say he is fine, but I can't help fear for Raimundo,"

"I'm worried too. Omi, I've been thinking. Even if Raimundo is fine, what if he still doesn't want to be a Xiaolin Dragon anymore?"

"That was when he was when he was angry. I'm sure that now the headpiece is off, he shall admit his mistake of turning to Wuya and help us defeat her!"

He looked so happy and confident, I couldn't brake it to him that Raimundo wasn't going to forgive us for ditching him. We sat together for awhile in silence, watching Raimundo sleep. He was slightly frowning, and every so often he would moan and toss and turn. I wondered what he was dreaming about. Then I looked over at Omi. He was trying as hard as he could to keep from falling asleep. He could hardly keep his eyes open. I knew he wouldn't go to bed until he was positive Raimundo was okay.

I sighed. "Omi, why don't you get some sleep. I come get you if he starts to wake up,"

"Thank You Kimiko. If you feel tired, wake me and I will take watch,"

After he left, I giggled. We were acting like Raimundo was an extremely valuable shen-gong-wu that we were protecting from the forces of darkness. Wuya. The thought hit me and sent chills down my spine like a bucket of ice water. She would be furious if Raimundo had come back. He had come alone to get the soothing sash, so it might be awhile before she realized he was gone, but she would come looking for him soon. Although, Raimundo had the golden tiger claws, so it might take some time until she found him. I hoped we could get him back on our side before then. Suddenly, Raimundo's hand went up to his face, and he moaned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He was waking up. I hesitated to go get Omi. I wanted to talk to Raimundo about some stuff. I decided Omi could wait.

Once Raimundo was fully awake, he looked around the room with a confused expression on his face. Then his eyes fell on me and he scowled. He started to get out of bed, maybe to fight, but I forced him back down. "Raimundo, listen. Everything's fine. You're not a captive, but you're not leaving for awhile. I don't want to fight you, but I will if I have to. However, I do want to talk,"

Raimundo groaned, covered his head with his pillow, and tucked the rest of him under the blanket. I sighed. "I know you're mad at me after everything I've done, but I swear, I didn't tell the guys about anything I saw in the thought keeper,"

Raimundo pulled off the pillow and glared at me, with anger, hatred, and pain in his eyes. "Right. I'm supposed to believe that. And even if you didn't tell them, they're going to make you explain what you were shouting about,"

"They're so worried about you, they haven't even asked me about it yet,"

"Why would they be worried about me? I'm the enemy, remember?"

"We were your friends Raimundo. And we were hoping you would come back to being a Xiaolin warrior,"

"Think again. We're through, I'm staying with Wuya and there's nothing you can say or do about it,"

I got a lump in my throat. I forced it down as I asked as steadily as I could, "Why?"

Raimundo looked away from me. He was silent. After a moment, I spoke.

"I know you really want to get back at us, but is there any other reason? I have to know Raimundo,"

His eyes flew back up to me, with more hatred, and his hands clenched into fists like he wanted to hit me.

"Why? So you can bring Wuya down? So you can make me come crawling back to the temple? I think you've done enough damage," he snarled.

"I didn't mean to look into your past. Although, I'm glad I did or we never would have gotten the headpiece off. I want to know why you're with Wuya for my- our peace of mind. Omi's worried it was something he said or did. Don't you remember when he tried to apologize?"

He growled. "I remember, but it didn't make up for anything,"

I took a deep breath. "Were you upset because you thought that by becoming Xiaolin apprentices we were leaving you behind?"

His fists clenched tighter and his eyes darted past me to the door like he was thinking of making a break for it.

"Raimundo, please. For just one moment, can we forget that we're enemies and try to talk? We don't want you to choose something that you might regret later when it's too late to turn back. I just want to help,"

Raimundo looked at me directly in the eye to see if I was telling the truth. I guess he could tell it was heartfelt because the hatred in his eyes disappeared.

"You really didn't tell anyone about my past?"

I nodded. He sighed and his face softened.

"Okay, one moment," he whispered.

I promise the next one won't take as long. For those who are wondering, my muse is a tawny, young griffin (Of course) named Iorek. He promises to make sure I keep writing.


	20. Chapter 20

Here's the next chapter. I'm really, really, **really** sorry it took so long. School has been pretty hectic lately, AND I had a huge writer's block. Iorek has really been trying his best to help me make it through. Eventually, we finally got the time, energy, and inspiration to keep writing.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. So, did you?"

Raimundo looked at me funny. "Did I what?"

"Feel we were leaving you behind,"

Raimundo turned his head to the wall. We were silent for a moment. I knew he didn't feel comfortable enough with me to answer questions like that yet. I guessed we should work from the bottom up.

"Maybe we should come back to that later,"

He turned back to face me and shrugged.

"Okay. So, what else did you want to talk about?"

"Did you really barbecue your dad?"

Raimundo expression turned mischievous.

"You better believe it. And from what you saw, you know he deserved it and a whole lot more,"

I grinned back the same way and nodded. "He definitely did. I can't believe anyone would do something like that,"

His expression turned sad.

"The sad thing is, I'm not the first kid whose parents do things like that. Some of them had gone through much more than I did. I found a website where you can talk about your story and pain with other kids. It helped a little,"

He gave me a sweet, sad look. "You're lucky to have parents who love each other,"

I did my best to hold back tears and nodded again.

"I'm amazed you didn't attempt suicide or even fall into deep depression,"

Raimundo shrugged. "It's not my style. And as Fabio once told me, 'Crap happens. Wipe your butt and move on.' Besides, Tay needed help with learning how to make friends,"

"Do you still have the braid Tay gave you?"

He nodded, reached into his pillowcase, pulled it out, and held it out to me. It really was beautiful. I slowly took it from him and ran my fingers down the locks. It was so soft and thick.

"She must have either been desperate for to remember her, or completely insane. I would never cut off my hair, and most people would kill to have their's this long and beautiful,"

"If she wanted it back, she would just have to wait a couple months. Her hair grows like crazy. But she likes it a lot better short,"

"You're in touch?"

"I told her I would write,"

"Yeah, I remember now. How are they doing?"

"Pretty well. The circus has gone back to normal since the creeps attacked, Fabio's practically the star of the juggling show, but Tay's gone back into her shell. Remember how shy she was when I first met her?"

"Yeah,"

"Well now she back to being like that. Fabio says she only shows her true colors around him, her parents, and a few other people at the circus. I think she feels more withdrawn since . . . well, you know,"

I nodded.

"If I did what she had done, I'd felt a little scared too. She was really brave,"

"Yeah,"

After thinking about the memory in silence for a moment, I asked, "Did the police ever catch those white-masked creeps?"

Raimundo sighed, pull his legs up to his chest, and hugged them.

"I wish I could say they had. It's like they just disappeared off the face of the earth. It scares me to think that they're still out there somewhere just waiting to strike,"

I shivered. "I don't think I could ever sleep soundly again after going through something like that,"

Raimundo shrugged again. We sat for a moment in silence. Neither of us knew what to do or say next. I knew what I wanted to ask, but I liked talking to Raimundo without any pressure and I didn't want him to clam up again. In the end, Raimundo decided for me.

"Okay, so maybe I felt a little left out when you became apprentices,"

"Raimundo, we're your friends. We would never do anything to abandon you. Not after all we've been through together,"

He smiled sadly at me. "I guess part of me knew that. But another part felt like you were trying to get rid of me, like I was holding you back or something. Kinda like how I knew my family was trying to protect me, but it felt like they were trying to ditch me,"

Then I remembered something else from that day and my muscles tensed. "Rai, exactly how long were you planning on staying at the temple?"

"At first I wanted to get out as soon as possible. Then some of the things here got fun and I decided I should probably stay a bit longer," He sighed. "But so far, the police still aren't sure about me dad's disappearance,"

I relaxed, but I tensed again as soon as I thought of my next question. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hear the answer. I took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"So, Raimundo, do you still want to side with Wuya?"

Raimundo hesitated for what seemed like forever. Then he rubbed the back of his neck, sighed, and said in a voice so low I could hardly heard him "That depends on whether or not you guys can forgive me for helping Wuya,"

I couldn't help it. I burst into tears and threw my arms around him.

I have a pretty good idea for the next chapter, but how soon it comes will depend on how school is going. Again, I'm really sorry!


	21. The End

Christ, how long has it been since I updated this? I am really, **really **sorry.Thanks a lot for the wake up call spicydonut185. I've been pretty busy lately. Although I'm pretty sure you'd much rather be reading the last chapter instead of my pathetic apologies and excuses, so here it is. I hope you like it. Just so you know, I used a bit of the TV show ending for this one.

Raimundo seemed a little surprised by my reaction. I guess he didn't think we were actually going to forgive him. After a few moments, he slowly hugged me back. Suddenly Raimundo's shoulders stiffened and his arms dropped limply at his sides. I turned to see Omi, Dojo, and Clay standing at the entrance. I expected Omi to be boiling mad at me for not waking him up, but he was so happy to see Raimundo, he didn't seem to even remember our agreement.

"Raimundo! You have awoken!" Omi had flow across the room and started squeezing the life out of Raimundo in what seemed to be less then a millisecond.

Raimundo didn't seem to be expecting this reaction either. He gave me a quizzical look. I tried my best to tell him with my eyes that they already assumed that he was rejoining us. We had gotten pretty good at talking with our eyes during all this, so he got my message. I was so focused on his eyes, I didn't realize he was starting to turn blue.

Fortunately, Dojo did. He slithered over and poked Omi's shoulder. "Uhhh, Omi … Omi, I don't think he can breathe… Omi!"

It took both off us to loosen his grasp. When Raimundo caught his breath, he hugged Omi back. Dojo patted Raimundo's arm. "Good to have you back pal."

Raimundo gave him a nod, then looked over at Clay who hadn't moved. Clay was just staring at Raimundo with uneasy intensity. Raimundo met his gaze. It was difficult for me to make out what his eyes were saying. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but I could tell it was important. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Half of me wished Omi or Dojo would say or do something to break it and half of me hoped they wouldn't. They seemed to be just as weirded out as I was. After what seemed like a century, the uneasiness in Clay's eyes was replaced with contentment and they both grinned at each other. Clay finally came in, knelt by Raimundo, and high-fived him, their gaze still remaining intact.

"Welcome back pardner."

"Thanks."

"What do you think that was about?" Omi whispered to me.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just a guy thing."

"Ahh." Omi seemed satisfied with my answer, but then his expression changed into suspicious confusion when the last words I said sunk in.

"Wait a minute-"

"Soooo, what about Master Fung?" Raimundo asked. "Is he okay with this?"

"Oh!"

I had forgotten about Master Fung.

"Uhhh, see . . ."

"We haven't asked him yet." Omi admitted.

Raimundo opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by a new voice.

"Ahem."

We all turned to see Master Fung.

"Asked me what?"

I tried to think fast to come up with some way to ask that would guarantee getting Raimundo back in, but I wasn't fast enough and Omi cut right to the chase.

"May Raimundo return to the temple?"

Master Fung raised an eyebrow. "I believe that is really something Raimundo should ask himself."

We all looked back at Raimundo. I could tell he wasn't really ready for this. He stared at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. Finally, he took a deep breath and began. "I'm sorry for what I did. I wasn't thinking at all. I know that no matter what I say can make up for what I did and I understand if you won't take me back. But I really want a chance to repair the damage I've done and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to make it right again."

I was so proud of him, I thought I might burst. Master Fung remained expressionless.

"_Whatever_ it takes Raimundo?"

"Yes Master Fung." Raimundo bowed his head.

We all held our breath for Master Fung's answer, but not for as long as we thought we would have to though. After a few seconds he replied "Okay" then turned, and started walking away.

Raimundo blinked. "Okay?" he repeated. "That's it? Just like that, I'm back in?"

Master Fung stopped to look back at Raimundo and reply, "Everyone makes mistakes Raimundo, and I believe you have been punished enough for yours. Also, we're going to need as much help as we can get to defeat Wuya." Then he left.

Raimundo shrugged. "Okay, whatever works."

The mention of Wuya reminded me of what I had thought about earlier. "Raimundo, what about Wuya? Isn't she going to be upset when she finds out you left?"

Omi, Clay, and Dojo tensed up at my words, but Raimundo didn't look worried at all.

"She won't even notice that I'm gone for a while. We split up after the second time you guys came to our cave."

"What?" Dojo was so tense, he had trouble spitting the word out.

"She said that she had some things to take care of and told me to gather shen-gong-wu while she was gone."

"How were you able to know where the shen-gong-wu was if she was gone?" Omi wanted to know.

"Hmmm…" Raimundo scratched his head. "I know she used the thought keeper to tell me where the locations were, but I don't know how she did it. Anyway, she said the main reason we were in the cave was so she could rest up for something without being disturbed, but I don't know for what."

Dojo was shaking violently now.

"What's wrong Dojo? Another shen-gong-wu?" Clay asked.

"I wish." Dojo muttered. "Wuya was saving up her strength for sending the world into ten thousand years of darkness! The only reason she wanted Raimundo to go after shen-gong-wu was to keep us busy from finding her!"

Tight and stressful feelings suddenly filled my chest. "What? Oh great! So all this time, she been getting stronger?" I yelled.

Without warning, Omi started screaming and running around Raimundo's bedroom. Watching him run around the room somehow distracted us from our stress momentarily. Then Raimundo swiftly stuck out his foot right in front of Omi, causing him to fall flat on his face and cease his screaming.

"Omi…, just chill." Raimundo said calming while helping him up. "Chances are that Wuya hasn't had enough rest yet, so we can get to her before she dominates the world and kick her butt."

"The problem with that plan is that she's an all powerful Heylin witch, so kicking her butt is probably easier said than done, and, we don't know where the heck she is!" I growled.

"Stonehenge," Raimundo prompted. "She said that she built it for a ritual that would send the world into ten thousand years of darkness, but Dashi dragged her into the first Xiaolin Showdown and locked her in the puzzle box, so she never got a chance to use it."

"Okay, so now we do know where the heck she is, but we still don't know how to defeat her."

"Ahem."

Once more, we turned to see Master Fung, but this time he was holding a wooden box. Dojo gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"

Master Fung nodded. "The puzzle box Wuya was trapped in. I found it outside. If you open it in Wuya's presence, she should become imprisoned in the box once again."

"Didn't Jack have that?" ask Omi.

We all nodded at him.

"So… do you think he's really trying to help or do you think this is a trick?"

Dojo slithered over to Master Fung to get a better look at the box. "It looks genuine."

Master Fung put the box in front of Dojo. Dojo carefully inspected the box. "And it smells and feels genuine. Jack could never make a fake this good. This has gotta be the real deal."

Omi looked more confused than I have ever seen him. "Why would Jack Spicer want to help us?"

"Because he can't rule the world if Wuya's already ruling it." Raimundo answered.

Then he smirked at me. "So anyway Kim, you were saying?"

I rolled my eyes. Raimundo was definitely back, but now I wasn't so sure if that was a good thing. "Okay, we seem to have everything we're going to need. Is everyone ready?"

"Of course!"

"Yep!"

"Ready as I'm gonna be I guess. . ."

Raimundo got up, stretched, and flashed me a grin. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hit it."

I'd made up my mind. It was great to have Raimundo back.

**The End**

Again, I'm really sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R. Bye.


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